Coolbaugh pipe bomb incident leads to new suspects, charges

Two more suspects have been named in a pipe bomb incident in Coolbaugh Township on Monday, while a charge of statutory sexual assault was filed against the first suspect.

HOWARD FRANK

Two more suspects have been named in a pipe bomb incident in Coolbaugh Township on Monday, while a charge of statutory sexual assault was filed against the first suspect.

Pocono Mountain Regional Police arrested Jeremy Sohle, 19, of Tobyhanna on Tuesday as a co-conspirator and charged him with conspiracy to commit weapons of mass destruction, a felony.

John Donahue, 19, of Tobyhanna was arrested Wednesday, also as a co-conspirator, and charged with one count of weapons of mass destruction, one count of prohibited offensive weapons, and one count of recklessly endangering another person.

Police said James Arnold II found what looked like a pipe bomb in the room of his son, James T. Arnold III, in their Coolbaugh Township home. The elder Arnold told police that his son and two of his friends made a pipe bomb and intended to use it against a person who "they were having problems with."

Police said that the pipe bomb contained gun powder, rocks and paper towels. Lackawanna Bomb Squad responded to the scene, secured the device and disabled it. Police said Arnold III admitted to a detective with the Pocono Mountain Regional Police to making the device.

Arnold III, 20, was charged with one count of weapons of mass destruction, a felony; and one count of prohibited offensive weapons, a misdemeanor.

Police had been interviewing the senior Arnold regarding an alleged statutory sexual assault involving his son when the bomb was discovered, according to court papers.

The son was in a relationship with a 16-year-old girl, and they have a 1-month-old daughter conceived when the girl was 15 years old and he was 19, according to court records.

Arnold III admitted to police that he had sex with the girl when she was 15 and he believes he's the father of the baby, according to court records.